Twisters of Canberra!

Gerry-Built said :

I saw a similar one (probably larger) down near Coppins Crossing just after the Canberra Bushfires in 2003. In a stark, devoid landscape, the blackened dust being blown made an amazing sight – wish I’d had a camera with me then!!! A large number of cars had stopped to watch the spectacle…

Living near plenty of new developments, these things certainly happen – though one as big as that pictured is certainly noteworthy enough to capture on camera [and post on RiotACT]… well done “Notbothered”

+1

I saw a similar one (probably larger) down near Coppins Crossing just after the Canberra Bushfires in 2003. In a stark, devoid landscape, the blackened dust being blown made an amazing sight – wish I’d had a camera with me then!!! A large number of cars had stopped to watch the spectacle…

Living near plenty of new developments, these things certainly happen – though one as big as that pictured is certainly noteworthy enough to capture on camera [and post on RiotACT]… well done “Notbothered”

Why would anyone bother faking a picture of a willy-willy in a Canberra suburb? If you were going to go out of your way to fake something, you might aswell make it look dramatic.

If you take into account the perspective of the shot, and the fact that the base of the willy-willy happens to be right on or behind that tree line, that would mean the cloud would have to be incredibly low and incredibly small.

It’s not fake, and I really don’t know why anyone would think it is.

Trees and buildings increase the overall roughness of the ground, lowering the airflow available. Because they feed on hot air updrafts, trees and buildings lower the chance of them occuring.

True true, the dust makes them alot easier to see but trees would act as a wind breaker wouldn’t they?!

They could happen anywhere, without the dust you won’t even realise it’s there.

notbothered said :

Trees would probably stop them happening so frequently but unfortunately with new suburbs a lot of trees get ripped up, I’m not sure if new suburbs elswhere get them as well, or if it is localised to gungahlin.

I hadn’t noticed any out in tuggeranong, which is why I was curious. Also, if there was an increase the numbers of wooded areas in gungahlin, would this have a positive effect on this kind of natural occurence?

Trees would probably stop them happening so frequently but unfortunately with new suburbs a lot of trees get ripped up, I’m not sure if new suburbs elswhere get them as well, or if it is localised to gungahlin.

notbothered said :

it looks fake because theres a cloud in the pic, it has not come from the cloud, it was just good positioning. Plenty of Gungahlin residents can vouch for the fact that they happen fairly frequently and even more workers on the Job site will tell you.

would trees reduce the effect, or is it due to the wide open spaces of gungahlin?

it looks fake because theres a cloud in the pic, it has not come from the cloud, it was just good positioning. Plenty of Gungahlin residents can vouch for the fact that they happen fairly frequently and even more workers on the Job site will tell you.

Hehe!

: D

“Is that a willy-willy, or are you just happy to see me?”

Gungahlin Al said :

FFS chewy, for what reason would I be bothered posting other than the truth here, huh? Especially as – unlike you – my ID is well known?

I have seen 2 such willy willies both on virtually cloudless days, and MANY smaller ones.

Peter, there’s a difference between willies and tornados (large or small) – willies happen on hot clear days, where thermalling comes UP from ground level. Thermalling can lead to cloud tops. Tornadoes come DOWN from the clouds. I have seen these many times over the ocean (even saw a double off Kawana once), and a few times out over the south-west slopes. As I understand it…

Al, the cloud in the photo hasn’t been effected by the willy-willy. i have seen them before and this was a particularly good example of one. You can easily spot that it is ground created, look at the thickness of the funnel at ground level vs in the sky. Tornados have the opposite. large funnel in the sky down to tapered end on land. The force of the storm that they are formed from is the key to tornados. with a serious amount of upward pressure, sometimes the clouds are broken up.

Al,
as i said above i have seen them too. All i was saying is that i think this photo is a Fake.

FFS chewy, for what reason would I be bothered posting other than the truth here, huh? Especially as – unlike you – my ID is well known?

I have seen 2 such willy willies both on virtually cloudless days, and MANY smaller ones.

Peter, there’s a difference between willies and tornados (large or small) – willies happen on hot clear days, where thermalling comes UP from ground level. Thermalling can lead to cloud tops. Tornadoes come DOWN from the clouds. I have seen these many times over the ocean (even saw a double off Kawana once), and a few times out over the south-west slopes. As I understand it…

Great pic. I’ve seen a few of these of late while I’ve been driving backwards and forwards to Albury for work. Haven’t seen anything this big though. That’s a cracker!

also happy to be proved wrong however.

Johnboy,
i’ve seen them, in new subdivisions in Gungahlin, but never one like this.

Gungahlin Al said :

LMT and Krizzle: I say again – have seen them looking exactly like this and even bigger. Part of the reason I always carry a camera now.

the only reason that this one looks out of kilter is the cloud. I have seen them on a very cloudy day, without creating any disturbance above on the cloud mass… I do believe that this one is real.

Some of you people really don’t like learning new things do you?

Multiple people have corroborated the phenomenon.

And as noted on the other thread not all crime is announced to the media.

seeing as “notbothered” also started a thread about a sexual assault, which has so far not been reported about (police or media), i’m thinking massive troll.

Al,
I’ve got some magic beans i’m selling.

LMT and Krizzle: I say again – have seen them looking exactly like this and even bigger. Part of the reason I always carry a camera now.

“Fake”

+1

12 year old armed with photoshop – happy to be corrected

Fake.

Yeah we see a few of these around here. Amazing to watch them rip through building sites…

Got some pics of one a bit bigger than this about 2 years ago as Franklin was first being dozed, but not with the cool cloud on top. It ripped across Flemington Rd then through the display village, which was half built then.

We get some full-blown dust storms too that resemble a winter fog…worse with the sports grounds under construction now. First thing you do when you move in is put sealing strips and flaps on all external doors – and the one into your garage – garages get so dirty I’m going to buy some of what Rollador call “Embaseal” – strips across the top and sides of the garage rolladors to stop dirt, wind and fire embers coming in.

But in a couple more years we’ll have most of the bare dirt covered, and the buildings break the winds up a lot. Then Harrison will get a reprieve for a few years until Kenny starts.

Oh, Toto. There’s no place like home!

Beam me up, Scotty!

Looks a little bit ‘war of the worlds’. Or perhaps it is a UFO assisting with the sub-division.

Nice pic, whatever you want to call the subject.

i dont think anyone claimed it was a tornado. the op called it a whirlwind.

I saw one like this over the DFO area some months back, from the Ridgeway, but by teh time I’d pulled over and got camera out, it was falling apart. It is a willy-willy, but when those things collect you, you sure know about it.

Get you hand off it!

But it’s so much bigger than the average willy-willy, it should be called a dick-dick.

I don’t want to burst any bubbles but that there’s just a big willy-willy. Twisters (tornadoes) are a different thing altogether. That’s not to say that this isn’t an impressive example.

I’ve seen an occasional one but probably never that big. Well done getting the pic.

I’ve actually noticed quite a few of them out at Franklin during the last few years. I suspect it has to do with Kaleen, Giralang, Crace, Palmerston, Franklin & Harrison seem to be appearing as Canberra’s own tornado/severe storm.

amazing i am first to comment – everyone out enjoying the interesting weather, then? or been sucked up by the bigger one that’s behind notbothered..!

fantastic image – looks like the sky pointing a finger and saying, ‘i’ll have that, and that…’

cheers! ; )